


Natural Problem-solver

by Dedlivs



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Best Friends, Boys In Love, Crushes, Everyone Is Gay, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Gyuhao, Hate to Love, I'm slow at updating because of school and work but I promise to finish this, MAIN FOCUS ON GYUHAO, Mingyu is awkward af, Multi, My First Fanfic, OC HAS A NAME BUT YOU CAN CHANGE IT INTO WHATEVER, OC might like someone, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, POV Second Person, Pining, Pining Mingyu, Pining Vernon, Seungkwan is a lil bitch but deserves love, almost, hint to other pairings, hope keep their actual personality in this, minghao is sassy, or maybe a little more than a hint who knows, someone is dense af, verkwan, verkwan gets some spotlight too because they are my babies, you - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2019-05-16 17:00:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14815295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dedlivs/pseuds/Dedlivs
Summary: You had some pretty awesome friends, you had to admit it, but some of them were driving you crazy and as good as you are at giving your friends advices, you seemed to never have time for your own heart problems.Firstly Hansol and his maddening crush on Boo Seungkwan;Then Kim Mingyu who keeps harasshing you to have your best friend's number even though Minghao hates him;Soonyoung and Chan growing a bit distant by the day and everyone else is either lovestruck or harbouring feelings for someone you may or may not be close with.Lucky you, Minghao is a natural love problem-solver, even though he's way too dense when it comes to himself.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Everything that happens is under OC's first view perpective. She talks about her relationship with the boys, being them her friends, classmates, crushes; and describes them (hopefully I manage to stick to their "true selves" as mush as I can )
> 
> ///SHIPS///: Main focus goes to Gyuhao (and a bit of Verkwan too) obviously, but I'll either hint or talk about other pairings too.  
> /// Yes, OC will be paired up with someone too, deal with it. 
> 
> *NO SMUT* because - Its more about the "journey" than the "destination" - if you catch my drift (lol) and I like it that way.
> 
> Also - English isn't my first language so please, if you see any typos or weird stuff let me know in the comments and I'll fix them. The chapters aren't going to be very long but maybe I'll do some extra chapters on the couples when I finish the whole thing! :)

There were plenty of things you found annoying about going to college, but the worst of them all didn't involve spending most of your days on books or trying to get your latest art project, who kept you up all night, to comply with the deadline. No, the one and only thing you found truly annoying to the bone was having to deal with your friend's supposedly "secret" crush treating you and the boy himself like trash; that resulting into the aforementioned friend being sulky twentyfour-seven. 

\- I just don't get it. What could you possibly find in him? - you asked Hansol after another failed attempt of the latter to invite one of the best drama class students, known as DivaBoo or simply Hansol's dumb crush, to sit at you table. - He's not even that cool to be around - you spat, being dead tired of Boo Seungkwan's hideous behaviour toward your younger friend. The desire to smack him on the head whenever he waved Hansol off without even taking his propose into consideration, crept as you noticed him glare back at you.  
Hansol sighed and shrugged lightly before going back eating his bowl of chicken ramyeon in silence. You shook your head in disapproval, ready to give him one of those incredibly awkward pep talk about college crushes you had in store, when the rest of the group joined you in your gloomy lunch party. 

Soonyoung and Chan were talking animatedly about the latter's imminent math test, whilst Minghao was pouting in annoyance and talking to Junhui, the new chinese student who had just recently started to sit at your table, about something he was probably pissed about. As usual. 

Junhui was smiling apologetic even though he probably did nothing wrong and you sighed internally at his confused look. You were sure he was as a very sociable and funny guy, it was a pity he didn't speak a word of korean and therefore talked exclusively to Minghao; which wasn't necessarly a bad thing but you would have liked to join their conversations from time to time. However, you more than anyone knew how bad Minghao wanted a friend he could speak chinese to, without all the stumbling and broken accents people often made fun of. You'd known him for a couple of years only and yet you knew pretty much everything about eachother; partly thanks to the frequent sleepovers you had and during which you shared opinions and talked a lot about a lot of things, including yourselves. Minghao had an incredibly open and uninhibited personality, not to mention his big mouth and almost brutal honesty, thanks to which you didn't have any trouble clearing out whether he was gay or not. Which by the way he was, and let's be real, it was great to be able to talk about guys with someone who wasn't as prude as Chan or Soonyoung. Everytime you asked for their opinion on someone's look and personality, they'd avoid the question saying things like "how am I supposed to know that" or "shouldn't your opinion matter more than the one two straight guys have?". After that you'd usually roll your eyes and tell them it didn't matter and that they were no fun. Minghao on the other hand, was extremely judgmental about pretty much every guy you pointed out and always gave you an explanation or an adviced on whether you should or should not approach them. To put it in simpler words he was the kind of friend you could ask or tell anything to, always expecting an honest answer or advice in return. You'll be eternally glad for that.

Soonyoung, Chan and you have been besties since middle school, but as you grew up and got into high school things changed and you started talking less about those things that sounded remotely intimate. Despite your numerous attempts, you could never find out what caused that detachment and eventually gave up assuming it was just one of those "boys things", like "bro code" or such. They spent much more time together by themselves than you did with them and, considering they went to the same school and you didn't, maybe it was just normal. Despite the feeling of being left out when it came to certain matters, you friendship with them never faltered and you always took good care of them and likewise. However, as time went by, you felt the increasing need of finding a new best friend. Someone who was completely willing to hear you out at any time, with whom you could talk about anything you had in mind and that felt exactly the same way around.  
It was hard having to deal with two brothers and a bunch of male friends who didn't exactly like to talk about feelings, or simply gossip around, when most of girls at your age talked to eachother about those trivial things from time to time, at least. You tried making some female friends too, but the only one you got close with had to move to Sejong shortly after, so you gave up for a while and decided to wait until you got into college, hoping to find someone there; but once again you happened to befriend guys only.

In fact, during the first year you met an handful of boys that you wouldn't necessarly address as "close" but that were pretty nice to you nonetheless. First of all Jeon Wonwoo, a first grader and assiduous frequenter of the library you worked at. He seemed to love coffee and books more than anything else and eventually asked to be hired, becoming one of your nicest co-workers. Few weeks later you met Lee Seokmin and Lee Jihoon, two new acquaintances of Soonyoung and Choi Seungcheol, the class president and the hyung Chan never had the courage to talk to because he was "too cool". And how to forget Yoon Jeonghan, the school self-proclaimed angelic vice-president, which seemed to have taken a liking on you after the two of you performed a song together for your first school festival. At the end of your freshman year everyone thought you and Han were dating, but truth was that you two barely talked outside school; a thing you were absolutely fine with that because you didn't like to be in the spotlight, and being Jeonghan's rumored girlfriend would definately undermine that. Anyhow, these five guys were pretty friendly and they started hanging out at your table from time to time, but you never really tried to get closer to one of them in particular. They were nice, but to find the friend you were looking for you had to wait until your sophomore year. 

Xu Minghao, the intimidatingly silent chinese boy who showed up in art class with a camera dangling by his neck and a bag full of paint on his shoulders, was the person you had been so desperately looking for. Professor Kang introduced him briefly, inviting him to sit right next to you in class. He couldn't speak korean very well at the time and simply smiled at you when you offered him an hand and did your best to explain him which type of assignment you were dued for the next week. You could tell just by the way he looked at you and anyone who approached him, that he was a very honest and caring, yet cheeky guy. Needless to say, you instantly clicked.  
Minghao was very blunt, maybe a bit too sassy at times, but he was a good listener and would be great at giving you advices. In other words he was exactly the perfect best friend you needed and it turned out it was the same for him. 

The last to join your group of friends was Choi Hansol, or Vernon to his friends, a freshman with a big toothy smile and cute crescents glowing for almost everyone. You knew him before he started his first year because he was an old classmate and friend of your younger brother. Even though college had just started, he had already many friends and that's because people seemed to be naturally drawn to him by his heartwarming smile and akwardly adorable personality. He was a bit of a goof and it was pretty obvious you had a soft spot for him, always making sure he wasn't left alone sulking on that douchebag he oh so dearly cared about for the entire duration of his high school years.  
Anyway, when you first found out about his crush on that pompous jerk named Boo Seungkwan, a freshman with an ego as huge as his annoyingly round face, you tried to persuade him to find someone less rude and pretentious. Hansol seemed to really like him a lot thought, despite having talked to him only a couple of times during class and having been told off the same amount of times he tried to approach him during lunch.

You sighed loudly as you quit stirring the bowl of spicy ramyeon and shifted your gaze from the two chinese boys and Hansol, who was still looking in Seungkwan's direction, to Chan and Soonyoung. Your eyes opened wide as they landed on an bright shade of red locks dancing in the breeze. - What the hell? - you blurted out in surprise, bumping your fist onto the wooden surface of the table and drawing everyone's attention onto you. Hansol and Junhui almost jumped off their chair, looking allarmed while Minghao rolled his eyes and sighed faintly before gesturing Junhui not to pay attention to whatever was about to happen. 

\- Kwon Hoshi. How dare you dyeing you hair red without telling me? - you shook your head with a pout of disapproval forming your lips. Sooyoung brushed an hand through his new hair and grinned compliant, flushing a bit when you added a compliment to the previous statement. - It looks great though! Red really suits you. - you exclaimed, reaching out an hand to mess with his hair. They were as soft as ever despite the awful amount of bleach they had possibly gone though the day before, and you couldn't help but feel a bit jealous. - Not fair. Why do you have such strong hair when I have to deal with hair as dry as the desert whenever I change color. - You complained making the boys chuckle beneath their breaths.  
\- You still look cute at least - Chan spoke in Sooyoung's defense - now think about how ugly Hoshi-hyung would look with ruined ha- he didn't even manage to finish the sentence because the older jumped on him and grabbed him by the collar, then started shaking him violently. - Is that the way you talk about your hyungs in front of other people? You little brat?! - Soonyoung yelled jokingly while the younger tried his best to wriggle out of his tight grasp. - Ow come on hyuuung! She has seen you at your worst anyways. - he answered back. 

You chuckled - Dino's right. I wouldn't be called your friend if I hadn't witnessed some of your worst haircuts ever, after all - you added nodding your head in agreement once Soonyoung had finally let the younger go. 

\- Same goes for you "bowl head" - retorted the boy, grinning mischevously at the mention of your worst hairstyle to be known, the infamous "bowl head" haircut you had to bear throughout middle school because of your mother's bad taste. You raised your chopsticks in Hoshi's direction and gazed at him menaciously: - don't you dare bringing that up sir Kwon, or you'll have a taste of my sword.-. The red haired boy chuckled amused and raised his chopsticks as well. - You seem pretty confident madam Lee. I like that, but... do you really think you've been sharpening your skills enough to beat me in the subtle art of the sword? - he demanded with a cocky grin printed on his lips adding a poor british accent to the whole thing. Failing miserably as he managed to misspronounce even a word as simple as "sir". Minghao took his time to adjust himself on his seat, ready to stop whatever ridiculous act you were about to pull out, when Jihoon and Seokmin appeared out of thin hair and sat right next to you and Soonyoung respectively.

\- Couldn't tell it was you from afar with those redlight new hair of yours. - asserted the small, raven haired one shooting a smile in your direction. - No kidding. They suit you dude, good choice. - he complimented making Soonyoung blush a little more. You stared at him a bit puzzled. It was rare to see Jihoon in such a good mood after two hours of P.E. and you couldn't help but smile back while growing curious about the reason behind that. What could have possibly caused him to be so unnaturally happy about P.E.? Was Mrs Jeon sick? Nah, that couldn't be the reason because when the regular one didn't show up, the school would replace the first two hours of P.E with either calculus or physics, and Jihoon hated both of them even more. 

\- Yeah Hosh, that color is... fire! - exclaimed Seokmin throwing one of his awful puns and causing almost everone to sigh outloud, especially the shorter, who had to deal with him throughout the entire first period. 

\- Please don't - Minghao comment, which sounded more like a plea mangled by his thick chinese accent, made everyone burst out laughing. You could tell he was being serious because you knew he hated puns, but sassiness was one of those rare traits eveyone seemed to love about him; especially by the guy walking their direction in that very moment. Jeon Wonwoo by his left side and a bunch of girls and other unknown students on the other, it was Minghao's self proclaimed nemesis: Kim Mingyu.  
You waved in Wonwoo's direction with a huge smile on your lips, which he returned more than happily under Soonyoung's keen eye and loud scoff. You knew your friend didn't like him, mainly because he was a close friend of Mingyu and being friends with him, to Soonyoung meant being a bit of an asshole. You ignored him and decided to get straight to the point.  
\- Why are you here Mingyu? - you asked smiling confidently before taking the last sip of green tea from Hansol, who looked a bit hurt as he'd been thinking to saving that can for later. The taller boy flashed a smile in your direction and somehow, you instantly understood what it was all about. Of course it was that. It was always about that.  
Minghao shifted closer to Junhui, who was too engrossed into the cup of spicy ramyeon in his hands to notice his new friend's annoyed look, and glared back at you as to beg you to cut to either cut to the chase or send him off. You chuckled faintly and Mingyu cleared his throat to bring all the attention back to him.  
\- I heard from a friend that you guys - his eyes shifted from you to Minghao in less than a two seconds before he continued his speech, - got into some pretty serious photography competition so I wanted to wish good luck - he said as it was the most natural thing to do, but neither you nor your friends seem to buy it. 

You raised a brow suggestively, thing that made him blusha little out of embarrassmet - that's pretty kind of you Mingyu, thanks. We are doing our best to win first prize and since Hao's with me i think it'll be a piece of cake. - You answered confidently, throwing a glance towards you best pal and grinning in amusement. He shook his head lightly in return and send you one of his signature death stares.

\- Yeah.. I bet you're right - the brunette nodded absent mindedly switching his eyes between the two of you. You then noticed Sooyoung and Chan looking like they were about to explode and you guessed it was because they thought Mingyu was shamelessly hitting on you. One of the most handsome boys in this college was trying to get into your pants and that was pissing your best friends off. It was cute of them, and you weren't in front of the entire school right know, you would have laughed your ass off at the thought of you dating Kim Mingyu out of all people. He was good looking, awfully good looking to be completely honest, but he was so not your type; and you were pretty sure you weren't his. 

In fact, you knew you weren't. After all Mingyu had the hugest and most incredibly awkward gay crush on the one and only Xu Minghao; and he didn't even try to hide it. Anyone with a pair of eyes and working synapses could tell, well...aside from Hoshi and Dino apparently. Even Minghao himself knew about it and hated it, clearly.  
How did you guys find out however, was a rather amusing story to tell, a secret that Hao forbid you to tell the rest of the boys. You remember as if it was yesterday the day the brunette had walked up to you, one of those rare times you were left alone, and asked you to could give him your, you quote "cute chinese friend's number". You refused, smiling apologetically and told him that if he wanted to know he should ask him to Minghao himself. An answer he wasn't clearly expestiong to get from you, but that wasn't apparently enough to get him to leave you alone for good. 

After that he begged Wonwoo to make up an excuse to get the number from you, but you politely declined as you knew it couldn't possibly be for him as he and Minghao had never talked nor seen eachother before. The older seemed to understand your point and agreed into not asking you anymore, but it took Mingyu another couple of times before making a change of plans and walking straight to Minghao one day during lunch, when the others were out of sight, and make the most embarassing move to ever exist. The brunette handed him his phone asking for his digits, like they have been knowing each others for who knows how long, and Minghao ended up throwing a glass of sprite all over his shirt and walking away, dragging you along.

\- Yeah, yeah thanks a lot. - Minghao's thick accent brought you back to reality, his tone sounded beyond irritated and you knew that meant Mingyu needed to leave immediately if he didn't want another drink, this time aimed at his face. Thankfully, Wonwoo got a hand of the situation and stepped forward, resting an hand on his best friend's shoulder and saving the day. - I think we should get going Mingyu, lunch break is almost over and we didn't get to eat yet - he patted the boy's back and sent an apologetic smile in Minghao's direction before walking away with the other.  
\- Alright, see you in class - you waved at them trying to held back a chuckle. It was almost cute how though and cool Mingyu tried to act around Minghao, when he was in fact as harmelss and awkward as a teddy bear. He sucked at flirting, too bad most of the people around you assumed he was just being an asshole. You guessed that him sitting at the same table with the popular guys wasn't helping that either; and the same went for Wonwoo, but that was all another story.

 

Once the guys left, Junhui raised his head up and noticed Minghao's intense glare thratening to set fire to your head and furrowed his brows in confusion before murmuring a few words in his chinese, which would probably translate into something like "what's up with you?". The younger shrugged and decided to go eating, leaving the rest of the table in an clueless state. Nobody really knew what the hell had just happened beside you and Minghao after all, and that was maybe for the best. The two of you knew how nosy your friends were, especially Seokmin. You knew better than spilling a secret in front of one of the most talkative and bigmouthed people in the campus. No one could keep a secret if Lee Seokmin happened to be around. 

Soonyoung looked like he was bursting to ask her a thousand questions about Mingyu and Wonwoo's sudden interest in your photography competition, but you skillfully avoided his gaze and smiled at Jihoon, asking him how was his day. The shorter boy flinched nervously, clearing not expecting you to talk to him first, and brushed an hand through his raven-black locks. However, before he could say anything, Hansol jumped out of his sit and started packing his things hurriedly. - Shit. I almost forgot about it - he hissed throwing his jacket on his back. You looked up at him who was now standing tall, fixing his hoodie before it could choke him to death and asked: - Is everything okay Vernon? - with a puzzled expression. You obtained nothing but a muffled - yes - in return.  
He left shortly after you all agreed to save him a seat in Music class and only then you realized your Art class was going to start in less than ten minutes. - Very nice. - you muttered sarcastically before standing up and gathering all of your things scattered on the table. - Hao, we should get going. Art class starts in less then 10 minutes and I suppose we need to drop Junhui to his Korean class first. - you guessed. And you right, Junhui had no idea where his classroom was since it was his third day only and the school was huge.  
\- No problem, Korean-B is on the way to our class. - Minghao reassured you while grabbing his school bag and dumping his and Jun's empty cans and ramen bowls into the trash. Junhui gave you a grateful smile as he didn't know you very well but you seemed to be nicer and actually cared. On the other side Chan pouted in disappointment: - I'll see you guys in Music class I guess. When will we get to walk together? - he muttered, Soonyoung nodding by his side. - Good luck with Mrs Kang! - added your red haired friend giving you an encouraging smile. Everyone knew Mrs Kang was a bit of a crazy old woman even though they've never took a lesson with her. Jihoon and Seokmin cheered and wished you luck as well, then the three of you hurried to the second floor. 

Junhui's class was actually the one right before yours, so you made sure Minghao told him to wait for them at the end of the sixth period, so that they could walk together to Music class. Junhui smiled and bowed politely to you, murmuring an embarassed "thank you" and then walk throught the door, leaving you and Minghao alone in the corridor. 

\- What time is it? - you asked. The boy took out his phone and checked, widening his eyes as he read the time. - We're five minutes late - he announced grimacing. You sighed, patting him on the back and walking up to your classroom. - Mrs Kang will bit our asses up for good this time... - you stated. Minghao only nodded as he grabbed the door handle and pulled down. It was barely two weeks since school started and you two managed to be late since day one. Mrs Kang wasn't definately happy about it, but you were some of the best students she had, so you hoped she'd turn a blind eye this time too.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Xu Minghao

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told you the chapters are gonna be kinda short but I hope you enjoy anyways @_@ 
> 
> (Now I'm busy with exams and everything but I hope to be able to update constantly)

It's been a while since you've been in Minghao's bedroom and you smiled as you noticed that he had painted his walls in a vibrant shade of blue. His favourite. Usually you'd both agree to stay at your place since your mother seemed to like him a lot and often asked he he wanted to sleep over. Your father didn't say much, but didn't show any care since Minghao reassured him there was nothing going on between the two of you and he was taken. Blunt lie, but your parents didn't need to know about his sexuality and to be honest, you didn't know how they'd take it. Your mother however, was very fond of him and praised him a lot for being incredibly sweet and polite. Oh, if she only knew what his best friend, you, had to go through.   
This time he wanted to make it up to you and offered you a quiet night, away from your noisy (and nosy) brothers, and especially far away from the korean essay you'll have to turn in on tuesday. 

\- So... - you started off after a long period of silence. He mumbled something and you guessed you should let him finish whatever he was so focused on before asking anything. You were sprawled out on his bed, your legs dangling and your eyelids threating to fall. You looked up, resting your head on your arms and staring at his back. Minghao had been sitting at his desk for about fifteen minutes now, a bunch of printed papers in one hand and a pen in the other. You've watched him scribbling something hurriedly on some of them and proceed into reading some others, you tried not to be nosy, but you couldn't help it. 

\- Anything you wanna talk about? - you asked. This made him stop and turn around to look at you with a confused expression. 

\- Mhh nothing relevant I guess? - he replied - you? - he added after watching you crinkle your nose slighlty; a thing you apparently did whenever you had something on you mind. 

\- I was just wondering... don't take it personally or- well it's kind of a personal question so maybe you have to take it personally but- Minghao rolled his eyes as to say "just get to the point" and you flushed in embarassment. - Alright, the thing is... why don't you give Mingyu a chance to know you? I mean, you don't have to give him your number or anything but at least you could try, I don't know... grab a coffee or something? Maybe he's not as bad as you think he is. - you blurted out, forgetting between the words as you were afraid he would interrupt you before you could finish. Instead, he awaited patiently for you to make your point and then sighed deeply.   
\- Chanmi, you know exactly why I don't want to have anything to do with that idiot. - He replied shutting his eyes closed and squeezing the bridge of his nose. You looked away and grimaced. It's true you knew why he didn't like Mingyu, but you thought it was a stupid reason, that's all. Mingyu wasn't a bad guy, he was just incredibly bad at showing his interest in someone. The problem was you didn't know how to convince Minghao to listen to you.

\- I know he has been kind of...stalkery. - you admit - That "please give me your phone number" during lunch the first time was a dick move, I akwnowledge that. Plus that facebook and instagram thing where he openly whined about you ignoring and not wanting to be friend with him... -- don't forget that time I blocked him because he knocked my Instagram (and Twitter) DM because I wouldn't answer him. He even had the courage to ask his friends to beg me to unblock him! - he growled at the thought and you just nodded in defeat. 

\- I know, he might seem a bit douchy but he's n- Minghao interrupted you for the second time to reiterate his point. - Mingyu doesn't seem, he IS a douche; and the things he'd done to me throughout last year are a pretty good evidence if I might say so myself. - he reasoned. You thought deeply into it, trying to find at least one good thing Mingyu has done that doesn't sounds completely desperate and stalkerish; but you failed.  
\- Fair enough - you declare raising your hands in defeat and pulling out the best stoic look you could manage to give him. Minghao's grimace turned into a gentle smile as he suggested a change of topic into something more interesting (you begged to differ) and less infuriating. 

\- Want to see what I was doing? - he asked gesturing you to get up and join him to his desk. He tried making some space on his chair for you to sit but eventually gave up and offered his lap instead. You sat down careful not to break his knees with your fat ass (which wasn't that fat for the record, but you know, he was pretty scrawny boy and you didn't want him to lose the use of his legs) and looked at the papers scattered around. They all shared the same pastel pink color and fancy headline which said: "The8Resolves" and you shot your eyes to the sky as you realised it was that school journal thing he was part to since the second semester of his freshman year. 

\- I can't believe I was trying not to be nosy, but you were actually doing this - you joked causing him to chuckle amused. - You could have just asked, you know I don't keep any secrets. Especially with you. - he said. 

\- Ah ha...that's totally why you asked me not to tell the others about your "secret identity" - you mocked trying to imitate the way he spoke. He stuck out his tongue - Yah! You know I can't tell anyone about that because it's supposed to be an anonymous and the director president would kill me if I told anyone. Besides, it's not my fault if they decided to recruit me not only for the pictures, but for giving love advices as well. - he retorted sounding quite proud about it. 

\- Nah, I'm pretty sure you asked for that position yourself. I bet that one day the director walked in and said: "hey, I had this idea recently...what about we create a new section where a stranger under a dumb nickname dispenses love advices to a bunch of clueless anonymous students?"; and because you thought that would be fun you offered for the position. - you guessed. - I mean you love judging and making fun of people's miserable lovelife's problems. You are heartless and nosy, embrace it. - you joked poking him on the nose and giggling mischevously.

Minghao raised a brow and scoffed. - Yeah, sure. Says the one who agreed not to tell anybody only because I promised that, if one of our friends wrote to the journal and asked advices on his secret crush, she'd be the first one to know... - you stared at each other in silence for a few seconds and then burst into laughter. None of you could really deny what the other said and you both found that hilarious. However, you had to admit that the journal couldn't have chosen someone better than Minghao, or "The8" in this case, to help those countless lovesick students wandering on campus. He was just incredibly good at reading into people sometimes, to the point he scared you.

Once you've both calmed down and started breathing regularly again, you took an handful of papers and read through them; feeling a little guilty as you weren't supposed to, even thought you couldn't really tell who wrote those questions as they all had trashy nicknames. - Want me to help you with these? - you asked shamelessly, making him chuckle lightly. He shrugged telling you he wouldn't mind if you did and you promised you would keep your mouth shut about it. 

\- There is only one left though - he pointed out grabbing the only paper he hadn't scribbled on. You took it away from him, making sure that he could still read it, even though you had total control, and scanned the paper. Whoever that person was had a pretty handwriting and you were kind of jealous as teachers often told you they couldn't understand a word when reading your essays. The message was long, but you could sum it up in a few sentences: "My boyfriend says he likes me but goes out with his friends more often that with me. I'm jealous because he has a lot of female friends too. How do I find out if he's cheating?". 

\- Is that it? Where is the juice? I want some drama - you joked looking back at Minghao, who in the meanwhile had started massaging your shoulders with those awfully long fingers of his. He clicked his tongue and grinned, his crescent moons hiding behind the golden frame of his lenses. You pondered for a second, wondering why the hell was Minghao wearing those round sunglasses indoors; then you remembered. He finally managed to cut his hair and style them into a messy honey brown mullet, after an entire year of compliant and now he had to stick to his new hipster persona even at home. He was such a dork but that's one of the reason you held him dear.

\- Don't you complain with me if others' love stories are boring as hell - he joked hitting you on the back of your head before stealing the paper from your hands and set his eyes on it. You looked at him as he grabbed a pen from his case, neglecting the one he had been using since then, and started writing all over the blank space underneath the request. You waited in silence for a few minutes, studying the way Minghao held his pencil and the way his eyes scanned the paper more than once, trying to find the right answer to reassure the anonymous that if it was true love, they would have to trust their boyfriend. He looked relaxed despite those faint dark circles creeping under his eyes, which made him look even more tired than he actually was. The main cause was undoubtely the recent fight him and his father had about him not being straight, something he has grown used to but that still hurt him to the point he felt the need to call you, in the middle of the night, to let all his anger and tears out. Because, despite his sharp looks and his high reputation as the one to never have mince words, Minghao was as fragile and easy to hurt as anyone else. 

\- Done - he announced cheerfully, throwing the blue pen back where it belonged and then squeezing your sides causing you to jump and giggle. He knew you hated it, yet he did it all the time. You stood up, folding your arms and shaking your head in scorn, but before you had time to reply he added: - And guess what? You were as useless as a pair of unmatched socks - he mocked giving you a smirk. 

You scoffed - they aren't useless you know, I walk around with unmatching socks all the time and no one notices so... - he chuckled while gathering his papers inside the History of Art book. - That's exactly why I keep telling you you have no fashion sense - he retorts earning a powerful slap on the back of his had as a payback from before. 

\- Keep your fashionista persona to yourself and let us go get something to eat. I've been starving because of your slow ass here - you replied leading the way out of his room. He ran after you and smacked your forehead with his thumb and index, making you flinch, then threw an arm around your shoulder and hugged you from the side. He was a dumbass, but you didn't know what would you do without him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeon Wonwoo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's late but I wanted to update anyways. Hope it doesn't suck too much ^^u

Sunday morning started with an hot cup of homemade coffee, a slice of vanilla cake and a warm smile lingering on your lips. Sleeping at Minghao's has always been sort of therapeutic to you, he was what you would refer to as your own querencia; your safe place. His mere presence would make you instantly feel better, even in your worst and most stressful days, and you couldn't help but smile a little in fondness everytime you looked at his soft bed hair and his sleepy grumpy face.  
\- Are you sure you don't want me to drive you? - he asked in concern, drinking his espresso without adding any sugar and darting a glance at you for putting way too much sweetener in yours. Minghao wasn't the type of person to drink their coffee black on daily basis, but when it came to espresso, he'd often nag you about not drinking it in the correct way, thus not enjoying it to the fullest.

\- Nah, it's okay. It's just a few blocks away from here anyways. - You replied taking a bite of cake. Your eyes sparkled in joy, his mother was great at making sweets and you were pretty sure if you were to live there you'd get diabetes in less than a day. Minghao pouted: - it sucks you have to go to work on Sundays too... I'd like to spend some time together once in a while. - He complained. 

\- I know, but we were lucky enough I had saturday off this week - you pointed out. He clicked his tongue: - guess I should thank Wonwoo for that - he sneered, wriggling his eyebrows suggestively as he often joked about you having a thing for the black haired boy since the day you told him how the two of you got to know each other. You sighed out loud and rolled your eyes: - for the umpteenth time, Hao. I don't like Wonwoo and nor does he like me. We're just friendly co-workers and that's about it. - You rectified. - Yeah I know, I know, I just like messing up with you - he admitted winking. Silence fell shortly after, leaving the two of you wander in your own thoughts.

\- Is something bothering you? You seem a bit off lately... - he asked after a minute or so. You thought you must have held a very serious and gloomy expression for him to ask that out of the blue. Snapping out of you train of thoughts you shook your head, then pondered for a second and decided to tell him the truth. - No it's just... I was thinking about Chan and Soonyoung and the fact that we haven't hang out for a while. I feel like we're slowly drifting apart, you know, and...I don't want that to happen, I really don't. - You explained, Minghao's eyes still lingering on your face, not a blink as he stared at you in both understanding and worry. You dampened your lips before going on: - I was... wondering whether I should text them and ask if they wanted to catch up... do something together, you know, tonight... -. Your friend seemed to ponder on your words for a bit before looking back at you and reassure you that the boys would be more than happy if you asked them to do something together. - You guys have known one another since middle school, I'm pretty sure they'd be happy to spend some time with you. Even if you don't spend all of your time glued to each other's butts that doesn't mean you aren't best buddies anymore. You're just overthinking it again. -. 

You stayed silent for a few seconds, looking away and smiling faintly before letting out a sigh and nod in agreement. - You're right... I guess I'll call Hoshi and see if we can meet up after work, maybe eat something together and... do you wanna tag along? - you asked with a pleading and hopeful smile but Minghao turned down your offer almost immediately, saying he had some stuff to do that night. Silence fell once again, but this time it didn't feel as heavy as before. Talking to him cleared up your mind and you were now ready to start another day of work.

\- Alright, it's time to go - you announced jokingly after checking the time on that fancy kitchen clock, the one with melted-like numbers that reminded you of Dalì's painting; you bet he bought it by himself and fought hard with his mother to set it up. - Already? - he whined pulling himself off the chair, heading to the door and fetching your jacket for you. He watched you dress up and fixed your long scarf which was almost kissing the floor: - my offer still stands - he advised after unlocking the entrance door. You chuckled slightly and told him that he didn't need to worry, you were going to walk like as usual, and reminded him that he was still invited if he wanted to join you, Soonyoung and Chan later on. 

\- I'm sorry but I really can't today. - he replied apologetic. The way he said it sounded a bit weird and you started wondering whether he was lying yo you or not, but you shrugged it off as he continued. - Besides, I think they'd like it better if it was only the three of you. - He added, rubbing the bottom of his nose with the back of his hand before smiling cutely at you.

\- Okay, fine. I'll text to you on the way back though. - You warned pointing your index at him as to make sure he'll be there and text you back. You then hugged him briefly and made your way out. The library wasn't too far and you knew exactly which way to go as you happened to go there with Minghao during your days off from time to time. You both loved books, especially the ones regarding art, like Van Gogh's biography, Giotto, Canaletto, De Chirico and many others; and spent most of your free time there during sophomore year. It was actually Minghao's idea to ask the owner if you could work there, part-time obviously, and the man miraculously accepted right on the spot; explaining that at the time he needed some young people taking care of his books for him. 

 

In less than ten minutes you reached the library's entrance and pulled out your spare keys. You were about to unlock the door when you realised it was already opened, meaning that someone had arrived first, and heard a familiar voice calling out for you: - You're here, - the voice said, and it was impossible for you not to recognize who the owner of that deep tone was. It was Jeon Wonwoo, the guy with sharp eyes, chocolate brown hair always up and perfectly parted to the side and a smile to die for. He walked up to you holding a pile of books in his arms and greeting you with one of those genuine smiles of his, to which you responded with a bright one. You took off your coat and threw it onto one of the clothes hangers behind the entrance door: - You're early - he said as you offered to help him out by taking some of the books he was carrying and following him around. 

\- I could literally say the same to you,- you retorted handing him a tome of about six hundred pages about Existentialism. - I thought you'd start later today. - you added. He looked a bit surprised by your apparently random statement and turned to you with a curious expression painted on his handsome face. - Why so? - he asked taking you aback, well not really since you kind of expected he'd react like that. He always did. He was the doubtful kind of person. 

\- Well, it's just... I heard around school that Mingyu had a professional boxing competition today and I thought you'd go watch him. - You explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. It wasn't a lie, Jeonghan had told you about it when you two met in the corridor on friday morning. Wonwoo stared at you for a few seconds and you flushed a bit out of embarassment as you thought your answer might have sounded a bit made up, and then he chuckled amusedly. 

\- I see - he nodded, going back to rearrange the shelf in order to make some space for another couple of books yuo gave him - Jeonghan must have told. Anyways, the match starts tonight, that's why I didn't have to take the day off... - his voice trailed off as he noticed you were staring at an undefined point in space, still thinking about how you could have handled the previous conversation better. You were such an overthinker and Minghao often scolded you about about it. Wonwoo paused and seemed to think of something, then, after a few seconds, his face lit up.

\- You wanna come see the match? - he asked out of the blue, with a pleading smile creeping onto his lips. You looked a bit take aback but managed to raise a brow and smiled gently. - Well... I actually.. - in that moment he realised how ambiguous his statement might have sounded and he blushed violently. - Wait. I-I didn't mean it like that, you know I - he stumbled upon his words and muttered some apologies, chuckling awkwardly while rephrasing. You smiled: - don't worry Wonwoo, I know what you meant. You were actually going to ask me to come and bring Minghao along, weren't you? - you waved it off trying to sound reassuring, but what you just said seemed to make him blushing even more.

\- If you say it like that... it sounds even worst. - He exclaimed - I meant to ask you about Minghao because, you know... Mingyu would appreciate that a lot. - You grinned, - but I didn't mean to be disrespectful. I think you are nice and funny too, so it would be great to... have you both. - he added trying to fix his own sentence in a way that didn't sound like he was eiher hitting on you or just using you. 

\- Mhh nice save - you joked handing him another book. - I'd be happy to help you, but Minghao isn't home tonight and I was thinking to ask Soonyoung and Chan if they wanted to hang out with me. - You explained. - They watch boxing matches on TV from time to time though, so I might suggest to go there. Uhm where's the competition held? -

\- Jangchung Arena, 8PM. If Mingyu wins this match he'll get to regionals. - Wonwoo beamed while talking about his bestfriend's achievements and you found that adorable. - Sounds pretty important, too bad Minghao isn't available or I would have dragged him there. Anyway, I'll talk about it with the boys and see what I can do. I guess we'll see each other there in that case - you offered. Wonwoo told you not to worry too much if you couldn't make it and after that, the two of you changed topic and went back to work without making any breaks until lunch. 

 

There were many things Mr Kim instructed you to do and, in addition to that, around the time you've finished to reorganize the shelves, a lot of people had come by; some asking for a coffee others for a cappuccino. There was a little coffee area too inside the library and you were in charge of that while Wonwoo mainly helped the customers and rearranged the books. Also, you were pretty good at helping eachother if needed, just like that aftenoon.

Around 3PM a lot of youger students walked in through the main entrance, books secured in their arms and a bagback thrown on their shoulders. They looked pretty annoyed as they had to spend their sunday inside a library, studying for their tests on monday, and you couldn't blame them. It was a sunny day and in a moment of peace you wondered what where your friends doing. You bet Chan was arguing with his younger brother about something stupid, like accusing him of cheating while playing at Mario Cart, whilst Soonyoung was probably outside, helping his father cleaning up their family garden. You had no idea where Minghao was to be completely honest, you've forgot to ask him during breakfast that morning; as for Hansol, you were pretty sure he was going to spend the day at your place, doing something stupid with your brothers. 

You sighed out of fatigue and jealousy, then took your phone out and sent a message to your two idiot friends to ask them if they've got some spare time for you later. You had made a group called "3 hopeless idjits" and once there, you started typing some infos about going to McDonald's and watch a boxing competition. The answer came faster then expected, especially from Hoshi who sounded incredibly excited at the thought of eating burgers after so much time wasted on dieting and didn't ask where the idea of the boxing match came from. Chan on the other hand, was quick to ask why you had suggested to go to Jangchung Arena. He probably knew about Mingyu's match. You replied with a simple "a friend asked if we wanted to go and I said I'd as you" and he hesitated, he knew that "friend" was Wonwoo but in the end, he accepted anyways. You smiled happily as you finally had your plans for the night when you heard someone clearing their throat from behind.

\- Uhm... can I get a ginseng? - the unfamiliar yet gentle voice said, not an hint of annoyance in their tone as you turned around and faced a boy a bit taller than you and with warm smile drawn on his lips. The unique and charming shape of his eyes was the first thing that caught your attention, then the slightly tanned skin and skinny yet healthy frame. You forgot how to talk for a second or two and kept staring at him in awe until Wonwoo came to your rescue, saving you from what might have soon turned into a rather awkward exchange of muffled apologies on your part and a bunch of confused expressions from the other.

\- Ah! Jisoo. - The taller exclaimed as soon as his eyes landed on the brunette's small frame. - What brings you here? - he asked flashing a smile to Jisoo, who smiled wholeheartedly and draw your attention to the book he was holding. The title read "Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman", a famous book of poems Jihoon talked you about during lunch break last week. What a coincidence you thought. The raven haired boy said he was going to have a very important poetry test on monday and there you guessed Jisoo might have been a poetry student too, maybe he just went to another college.

\- Uhm just go with Joshua, I don't mind - the boy spoke and once again his soothing tone filled you ears. - I'm here to study for my poetry test tomorrow and since Jihoon and Seungcheol were busy I - as soon as you heard the names of your two friends, you went totally blank. Jisoo knew them? Why have they never talked about him before? Was he a new student? No, that could be it or else how would you explain him and Wonwoo knowing eachother. He must have been a senior, one that doesn't stand out a lot and likes it that way, but happens to know Mingyu's friends and a bunch of people in poetry class. After all, Wonwoo was incredibly shy when it came to talk to someone he didn't know, especially if they looked as shy and introverted as him, and Jisoo seemed to fit that description.  
You suddently remembered the first time you've talked to the boy. It was such an awkward conversation, led mostly by you since you never ran out of things to talk about, especially if feeling nervous or talking to people you were not close with, and he wasn't exactly a man of many words.

The two of you met inside that very library on a rainy day of November, sat at the same table, a few chairs apart from eachother, and wearing the same soaked uniform. You were struggling to stay focused on your history textbook even though you had a test to prepare for, while he was completely lost into "A Farewell to Arms" a book written by Hemingway. Once you realised you weren't alone, something that took you about ten minutes, and that he was wearing the same uniform, you stopped what you were doing and stared at him insistently for a couple of seconds. You studied him in silence, eyes shifting from the soft looking locks covering his eyes, to his delicate fingers that turnt every page with gentleness. You grew curious about who he was and why you've never seen him walking around school and decided to do something brave for once in your life. You approached him, and he was clearly not expecting that, but nor he seemed to care much.

\- "Seoul Institute of the Arts"? - you asked pointing at his uniform, the answer being painfully obvious, but you thought it was a good way, if not the only one, to start a conversation ith a stranger. He took some time to finish the page he was stuck onto and turned to look at you, unsure whether you were actually talking to him or not and then he glanced at your own uniform and nodded. - Yeah, you go there too. - He stated awkwardly, without any intention of keeping up with the conversation.

\- Yeah...uhm, what year...? - you continued feeling a bit more insecure than before. He didn't seem very interested and you felt discouraged. - I'm a freshman - you added trying to stretch a smile despite feeling awful about being ignored. He fidgeted with his glasses as they slid down his nose and then looked up at you again before answering. - Me too. - He replied, and you almost lost your patience. He wasn't even trying to get to know you. \- I'm Lee Chanmi by the way. - you introduced yourself with a polite smile and a little bow. - I'm majoring in Art and Music, and I've got a big test on tuesday. History. That's why I'm here. - That was the best you could do at the time, it wasn't much but despite the boring topic the boy seemed to warm up a bit. He smiled back at you and finally put down his book.

\- Jeon Wonwoo - he said - I'm in Literature and Music. - His answers were still poor but at least you've got a name, you thought. Jeon Wonwoo. You didn't know anyone from your Music class with that name. Could it be there were more than one class per course? 

\- Oh, I've recently switched to Music thought, that's probably why you've never heard about me before - he added as if he had just read your mind, then he did something you didn't expect him to. He offered you a coffee, which you politely accepted, and asked you more about your Art class and the test you were studying for.

You and Wonwoo didn't hang out once after that day. You just kept greeting eachother with a smile every time you met in the corridor, his friends and yours always giving you questioning looks but never actually asked when all of that started. It was so painfully obvious your had a thing for him despite not knowing him very well, and so did he; or so you thought before bumping into him and his girlfriend drinking hot chocolate and sharing a bunch of chaste kisses during winter break. After that unfortunate discovery you ran home and spent the rest of your holidays trying to forget about that dumb crush of yours by hanging out with Soonyoung and Chan more than usual. You also started looking for a part-time job. You needed some money so that you could start saving up for the trip overseas you and the boys often talked about and promised to do right after graduation, and found a job right in the library you (and Wonwoo) liked so much. The fact that he liked to go there wasn't much of a problem at first, he'd only show up on thursdays to study with his girlfriend and on those rare occasions he wouldn't even talk to you, so you thought it would be easy to forget about him. School took most of your time and art class was extremely stressful, you being completely new to the subject but also enjoying it very much, and that, plus Soonyoung and Chan, did help a lot. You seemed to forget about your crush as many other things and worries started filling up your mind and distracting you; but one sunday morning Wonwoo showed up at the library, wearing the same uniform the owner gave you on your first day, and told you he was going to be your new co-worker. Many people would have felt lucky, other may have dramatically thought that everything they told themselves months prior meant nothing and that they were going to spend every single day hurting because of someone who didn't even care about them. However, that day you found out what you felt for Wonwoo was seriously nothing more than an innocent and meaningless teen-crush. Instead, you gathered up your courage and talked to him again, after weeks of avoidance, and found out he was indeed a good friend, an incredibly shy and quiet one, but still someone you got along pretty well with. You threw your old feelings behind, the ones you mistook for love, and replaced them with a newborn and sincere friendship. 

One year and an half had passed since your first conversation and sometimes you still wonder what would have been like to be his girlfriend, but you now felt at peace with yourself. Wonwoo was a kind, understanding and funny guy, but he wasn't meant for you and you were okay with just being friends. You liked your relationship exactly like it was and didn't want anything to change. 

 

\- Oh right, this is Lee Chanmi by the way - suddently you heard Wonwoo talking about you and you snapped out of your train of thoughts to introduce yourselft with a bow. Joshua followed you and reached an hand out for you to shake, which you did despite the soft flush creeping on your face. He was nearly the cutest guy you've seen in a while and that always made you panic and forget how to articulate a coherent sentence. - It's Joshua, or Jisoo if it's easier for you - he said, fixing his dark brown hair with a charming gesture of his hand. 

\- So... may I get my ginseng now? - he joked, giggling slightly as you were still staring at him, lost in your own world. Wonwoo seemed to notice your weird behaviour and decided to do you a favour by asking the boy another question, diverting his gaze, and shaking your shoulder a bit to wake you up from your trance before whispering something under his breath: - I'll distract him, you try not to mess up with the orders, alright? Make his ginseng first so you can go back work properly. - He suggested winking at you and chuckling at your embarassed reaction.  
\- Aw shut up Wonwoo. - You snorted loudly, drawing the attenton of the old man reading the newspaper on the counter and shooting an apologetic smile toward his direction. Then you turned to the coffee machine and sighed out of frustration while preparing the damn ginseng Jisoo, or Joshua, whatever! Asked you about. While doing so you couldn't help but look at the two boys from time to time, wondering whether you'll be able to see the shorter again around school. Although he attented completely different classes. 

You could already hear Minghao's laughter echoing in your head as you thought about how he'd react once you'll text him about meeting and exchanging some words with Joshua. Knowing your best friend and his passion for sticking his nose in eveyone's affair, he probably already knew who the boy was even though he had never talked to him before, which you were pretty sure he didn't, so you wondered what would your Minghao think about you being...interested in the guy? You've just met the dude and you're already head over heels about him. Why did you seem to have a weak spot for any cute guy at your school? It was frustrating. Luckily for you, or maybe not, most of them turned out to be gay, but still, you needed to put an end to it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red, Yellow, Green, Blue and Violet. A, B, C, D, E. You thought Mr Park didn't think this through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everything is going to get a lot messier after this.
> 
> (This is a "transitional chapter")

The second time you met Hong Jisoo was in Music class, one week later on Wednesday. January was finally over and the auditions for the long awaited school festival had officially started. The event was held during the first week of May and this year, professor Park had decided to reunite every student, not only from Music, Dance, Drama and Art class, but Poetry class as well to create something completely new. Hence, when Jisoo, or Joshua, entered the room with Jihoon and Seungcheol by his side, waving at you smiling brightly, you weren't taken by surprise. Minghao, who seemed to be so caught up in a conversation about the style of costumes and the scenographies that needed to be made for the show, appeared right by your side, leaving Jun and Jeonghan talking by themselves, just to ask if that was the boy you talked him about last sunday night.

**

 **17CaratsDiamond:** Hey Hao, you still up?  


**ThugHao:** Hey  


**ThugHao:** why wouldn't I be? It's barely 1AM and I'm still answering those love questions for the school paper. What about you? Still at Soonyoung's?  


**17CaratsDiamond:** Yeah right I forgot to tell you. We didn't stay home tonight, Wonwoo asked me if we wanted to go watch Mingyu's boxing competition and we sort of did...  


**ThugHao:** whaaaat?? How did you manage to bring Hosh and Dino along? I thought they hated the two more than I do...  


**17CaratsDiamond:** Yeah right, I didn't expect them to agree either but I guess I was convincing ;P  


**ThugHao:** I bet you tricked them or promised them to do something they like in return. Don't think I don't know you well enough ]: >  


**ThugHao:** wait. What do you mean by "sort of"?  


**17CaratsDiamond:** Nah it's just that we didn't watch the whole thing because, you know, the boys didn't like having Wonwoo around and constantly complained. Around 10 we left and got to the closest McDonald in town and drank about 2 liters of milkshake each. 

**17CaratsDiamond:** I feel like I'm about to explode anytime now.  


**ThugHao:** yeah I figured. I guess I shoud be happy it wasn't me you brought along. 

**ThugHao:** Cool. Somehow you guys always end up to McDonald when I'm not around. I'm glad because I hate that shit. Anyway, how was it?  


**17CaratsDiamond:** You mean hanging out with the boys or...?  


**ThugHao:** what else would I mean? Obviously nothing that has to do with fckn Kim Mingyu.  


**17CaratsDiamond:** yeah I know, because you hate him and blah blah blah. Anyways, it was lots of fun and I'm glad we got to do something together after so much time. We sang, screamed and act silly as usual. It felt like being back to middle school, like, super close and everything, and then we agreed to drop by Soonyoung's to play games next time!  


**ThugHao:** told you so, they still like you loads, you are just too busy to be with them as often as before and also, remember I need my bff too sometimes... o_o  


**17CaratsDiamond:** mhh I know I'm just overthinking it again... but let's talk about something else please, lets talk about you.  


**17CaratsDiamond:** how was your day? :)  


**ThugHao:** boring af, not gonna lie. My grandparents came to visit and kept asking the usual bullshit. "Don't you have a girlfriend?", "what happened to the old one?" or "when will you decide to give your grandmother a grandson/daughter?". I felt like dying every time she mentioned that. Too bad I'm an only child.  


**17CaratsDiamond:** I feel you, my uncle does the same thing during Christmas dinner and it never gets not akward.  


**ThugHao:** right.  


**17CaratsDiamond:** So I guess there is still no way to tell them about you... liking boys?  


**ThugHao:** no way, you know what my father thinks about me being an homosexual. Wouldn't surprise me if my grandparents thought the same way or worse. My mother seems to be the only one who has accepted it. 

**17CaratsDiamond:** Look, if you ever want to talk about it, I'm here for you. 

**ThugHao:** Thank you. Really. But I don't really feel like it today. 

**ThugHao:** Let's talk about this note I've got here instead. It's about a girl, apparently, who met this boy in music class for the first time last week and she totally fell for him but doesn't know how to approach him. It's kinda cute but I'm running out of ideas to help her. 

**17CaratsDiamond:** Wait wait wait music class? Is there a description of the boy or something? 

ThugHao: nope, they're probablty scared "The8Resolves" might be in their same class. Their nickname is "DesperatelyinLove"... rings a bell?

 **17CaratsDiamond:** Nope. 

**17CaratsDiamond:** Pfff imagine how sad, yet discretely funny, it would be if that person likes you and doesn't know you are gay. Gosh I hope it's not you. 

**ThugHao:** It better not be you either. Last time you liked someone from our music class it didn't end well and I don't want to witness something like that ever again. 

**17CaratsDiamond:** Yeah about that...

 **ThugHao:** Oh no please, tell me you aren't actually the girl in the note. 

**17CaratsDiamond:** I promise, I'm not haha. The thing is...today at work Wonwoo introduced me to a friend of his. Uhm a senior I've never seen before but, maybe you know him. Somehow you always do. 

**ThugHao:** Mhhh maybe. I don't have many senior friends but...what's the name?

 **17CaratsDiamond:** Jisoo, or Joshua I guess. Think he might be half american and I'm pretty sure he takes english and poetry classes. 

**ThugHao:** Mhhh I think I might have heard his name, maybe Jihoon knows him since they share the same class, but I'm not sure. I think his full name could be Hong Jisoo but...I don't think I've ever talked to him. 

**17CaratsDiamond:** well I know for a fact that he knows Woozi and S.coups so it should be the same Jisoo you heard about. 

**ThugHao:** So wait. Why are you telling me this? 

**ThugHao:** Oh. p

 **ThugHao:** Please don't tell me you like him already. 

**17CaratsDiamond:** .... uhm

 **17CaratsDiamond:** I mean he's cute, charming and polite...he likes to read, which is a plus, and Wonwoo talks very nice about him. I'm just curious you know, and I wanted to ask your opinion on him if you knew who he was but... I guess I'll have to find that out by myself. 

**ThugHao:** You're hopeless. 

**ThugHao:** but I love you, and I'll help you if end up being genuinely interested. You should try talking to him on wednesday, you know we've got that meeting for the school festival and that might be a good place to start. Mr Park and Mrs Lee decided to include poetry students in this year's plan.

 **17CaratsDiamond:** Awww that sounds like a plan. Thanks Hao  <3

 **ThugHao:** you're welcome, but you've gotta stop trying to set me up with Mingyu, I swear to God. He tried to hit on me during History on saturday, and it was such a painful experience to make.

 **17CaratsDiamond:** fine, I won't. But don't you dare complaining to me about it once you find out he's actually nicer than you thought and you were always meant to be.  
ThugHao: Doubt it. Alright, I'll go back to my notes now. There is this "CinnamonRoll" who keeps sending notes about this boy they have a crush o but can't get to talk to him and properly ask him out. 

**17CaratsDiamond:** Sounds sweet. 

**ThugHao:** Awkward, mostly. Anyways, I'll see you tomorrow. Niiiight  <3

 **17CaratsDiamond:** Goodnight Hao  <3

**

 

\- So, that's the guy - Minghao whispered in a casual tone while studying the older boy's profile. - You nodded you head slightly and looked away from Joshua before any of your other friends could notice you staring at him and figure something out. The one who scared you the most was Jeonghan, he seemed to have a very keen eye on these kinds of things, just like Hao and possibly Jun. 

\- Nope, never seen him before. Or maybe we did but never noticed since he doesn't seem the type to enjoy drawing lots of attention to himself. Kind of like Wonwoo does, whenever he's not glued to Mingyu's butt. - He scoffed shaking his head as his eyes shifted towards the tallest male in class and his group of friends. You rolled your eyes: - I know I promised not to but, if you say stuff like these with that particular tone I may start thinking you're a little jealous - you joked.  
\- Ugh please. He wishes. - The honey brown haired male scoffed in return. You were about to answer back and make fun of his "overflowing gay confidence", as you adressed to it, when Mr Park walked in and slammed the door shut hushing the studends in the front rows and threatening them to confiscate their cellphones. 

\- Everybody sit down. I have an important announcement to make before the meeting to decide this year's theme starts. - He declared lifting a box full of chalks and choosing five different colors. You and Hao took a spot close to Jihoon and there, Joshua turned to smile at you and greet you properly. - How is the week going so far? - he asked. You simply shrugged and told him that you're going to have a test on friday and you are struggling to keep your mind focused on the books instead of paint and canvases.

\- ...As you already know, we're going to share our project with poetry class this year, so they'll take care of the lyrics of the songs, while my students will focus on the music, and help the drama students with their scripts. Art students will work on scenograpies and costumes while Dance students will have to work on their own for the choreography. - Mr Park fixed his thick black glasses against the bridge of his nose and started writing on the blackboard using all of the colors he chose a bunch of minutes prior. The board was soon to be divided in five columns, red yellow green blue and violet, each one took their name by one of the first five letters of the alphabet; and that's when everyone started mumbling in confusion. - This year we've decided to divide you in five different groups as we noticed most of you tend to work exclusively with people they already know. To avoid this and to promote teamwork, we've already drawn lots to decide the groups, so now, when I'll write your name down you'll have to go to your respective teammates. - he explained leaving the room into chaos. You honestly didn't care. You had an handful of friends in these classes and you thought that you'd be fine with whoever you ended up with.  
Minghao bent over his desk to whisper something in your ear, but not before throwing an intense and disgusted glare in Mingyu's direction. - I'd be fine with anything, but please, let it not be Mingyu. - he pleaded when Mr Park finally wrote his name using the violet chalk.  
\- Dont' say it too loud Hao, it's badluck. - you joked, and as soon as you said that the professor wrote the name of the last member of the the violet team: Kim Mingyu. Minghao let out a sigh that there was no way Mingyu hadn't possibly heard, you felt bad for the boy but you couldn't deny that he kind of deserved it for all the things he'd done to your best friend. Although, you couldn't help but root for him because you knew it was all a misunderstanding and that he never meant to scare and annoy the shit out of Minghao by being stalkerish on social medias. Mingyu was just incredibly awkward because he had a crush and you could totally empathize with him.

\- Come on, we don't have all day. Find your name on the board and join your team so we can start this meeting. - Mr Park smiled in satisfaction looking at his students' worried and confused expressions. You scanned the board, looking for your own name and hoping the color would match with one of your closest friends', but to your and your three friends demise, the four of you were divided and you ended up working with none other than Boo Seungkwan; the person that hates you the most in the entire institute, for no reason at all. Luckily Wonwoo, Joshua and Seungcheol were part of the blue team too, which meant there was an overall pretty stable organization to begin with. Seunghcheol was in fact the school's president and there was no doubt he'd be taking the leadership of your group as well, while both Wonwoo and Joshua were the type of people who seemed to take things pretty seriously if needed. You had nothing to worry about aside from Seungkwan's never ending confidence and constant need of attention, but you thought you could handle it as long as it wouldn't hurt Hansol; which was, by the way, in the same group Minghao, Jihoon and Junhui were. Suddenly, you remembered there was another person you knew that was part of the violet team, and that person was Kim Mingyu.

\- Oh shit. Minghao is going to tear him apart - you heard Chan and Soonyoung's amused, yet slightly worried, statement. You looked at them and stretched a smile which their returned with a disappointed one as you weren't lucky enough to be together. At least, the two of them were in the green team along with Seokmin and Jeonghan, the vice-president of the school. That was going to be a very troubled and messy team, but knowing the four of them, you were sure they were going to have a great time. 

\- Let's start this meeting, shall we? - Mr Park announced once everyone sat at their own place. - I'm going to explain you how this whole new ordeal is going to be, hoping that you'll do your best. Let's talk about drama class' idea and... - he didn't even get to start explaining how things were going to be handled before you got distracted by Joshua's heart warming smile and encouraging words.

\- Let's do our best - he cheered shaking your hand and then throwing an arm around your shoulders. It felt pretty awkward as you didn't think he'd be the person to do something so expansive, especially since you didn't know each other, but you answered patting his back and smiling. 

\- This is going to be interesting - Wonwoo low whisper wasn't meant for you to be heard probably, but you couldn't help it, so you looked at him straight in the eyes with a look that was meant to ask if he figured something and eventually beg him not to say anything. He did smile when you exchanged glances, but didn't mutter a single word and simply looked away, resting his eyes on Mingyu's back. You followed his gaze and noticed how pissed Minghao looked for having to sit at the same table with the other.

\- Minghao is definately going to tear him apart - Seungcheol stated clicking his tongue, using Dino and Hoshi's same words. You looked at him and he took that as a sign to keep talking. - They'll get along eventually. I mean, they have to if they don't want to ruin the festival for everyone, huh? - you nodded in agreement, but you and him both knew it was going to be hard as hell to get Minghao to, at least, tolerate Mingyu's presence. 

\- Too bad you, Jeonghan or Jihoon aren't in the violet team. You could have settle things better than Yoora is. - You commented glancing towards the red haired girl with a worried look on her face. Seungcheol shook his head slightly: - I don't think so. Those two hotheads need to sort things out by themselves. It's going to take time but someday Minghao might stop bitching around and Mingyu might start talking like a decent human being when trying to ask him out on a date. -. You scoffed in amusement, it was clear to all of your friends that Mingyu's crush was genuine, everyone besides Minghao himself. Shifting your eyes on Soonyoung and Chan, you found them looking at the couple of idiots as well, laughing along with each other and making fun of Mingyu for tripping on his own feet while arguing with the chinese man. A lopsided smile took over your lips but you quickly shook it away, you had to stop that.  
\- Okay class, is everything clear? Good. Now, let's start dividing the work! - Mr Park had finally stopped talking and once he stood up, he started giving out forms and papers about the party. You took one of them for yourself and gave it a quick peek. In short, every group had to work on creating a song with lyrics that could be transposed into a little screenplay that included both acting and dancing. Art students had to create the costumes and the scenography for their own team, with the help of some professional costume designers. That sounded great and you were already looking forward to see the final outcome of your hard work.  
\- Alright folks, you should start thinking about your group theme and the type of music you want to make - as predicted, Seungcheol took the reins of the situations and started dividing the work among us by class. 

\- As expected from our class president! - Jeonghan teased, shooting a wink to your table from the other side of the room. 

\- Aw, shut up Han - exclaimed Seungcheol pink flushing in embarassment. He was the school's responsable, chatty and multi-tasking president, but in real life he was as shy as a mouse and all of his friends knew it. Jeonghan in particular, found that to be extremely funny and kept teasing him daily about it. He knew everything about everyone, like he could see right through your soul and find all of your weak spots. He was also a good friend of Seokmin, which made him knowing things even more dangerous as he might threaten people to tell "Big-mouth-Min" about their secrets.  
Jeonghan was extremely intuitive, clever and a bit of an ass if he wanted to obtain things and favours. That's why you tried to be extremely careful when he was around. 

 

During that aftenoon, you and your group had already planned most of the work that needed to be done for the first deadline Mr Park gave you. Once the theme was chosen, Wonwoo and Seungcheol took the lead and suggested that poetry and music students should meet up during the weekend to start writing something. That left you, along with the rest of the art, dance and drama students to have a long talk about the desing of the clothes and the scenography to be done to turn your team project into the most successful one. Of course, that meant you and Seungkwan will have to spend an awfully long day together to decide what to do to "make him shine", and just the thought of it made your head spin. He was incredibly hard to please, especially when talking about an upcoming performance which would determine which team did better and thus receive the best grades. Also, it was said that during the festival the school often invited a bunch of talent scouts for each department, so that the 5 best students were offered a guaranteed scholarship in their major subject. Seungkwan was still a first grader but he didn't want to waste time. He wanted his talent to be recognized as soon as possible, to become the star of the school so that once he got to his fourth year there would be no competition. I other words he wanted to be the best of the best since his freshman days. He was ambitious and undoubtely very talented, which was cool, but you thought he didn't deserve the spotlight if he was going to be a dick for the rest of his life. You liked the modest kind of people, not the douchy ones.

\- Alright then, we've everything settled for saturday at 9AM at the park, then. - Seungcheol smiled brightly as the blue team was the first one to get things done for the day. Wonwoo nodded in agreement and flashed you an amused smile when realizing you and Seungkwan had sat together, despite the constant compliants, throughout the whole lesson.

Joshua reached out to you and smiled, wishing you good luck for being chosen as the coordinator of the art team, despite you didn't feel ready for such a position in behalf of the artistic department. - We're definately going to win this competition. I mean, if the leader of our art unit doesn't fuck everything up -. That was the last thing Seungkwan said before taking his leave. He managed to make your blood boil in less than a second and you were so angry that if it wasn't for Chan and Soonyoung's sudden appearence you would have kicked the idiot's butts right in front of everyone. Joshua included. Chan rested an hand on your shoulder and scoffed, telling you to forget about the idiot and to focus on doing your job as good as always. He also offered to help if in need, even if he was technically part of another team, thus couldn't really do it. Soonyoung threw an arm around your shoulders and dragged you closer to him, smiling in delight as he couldn't wait for the three of you to get to his house and spent an entire night together playing videogames and watching movies while eating fried chicken.

\- Are you ready for an awesome night with your besties? - he cheered loudly as he held you tighter and started bouncing around. You smiled seeing how excited he was and decided to play along, jumping around the hall and laughing like a mad person. Chan shook his head, watching you from behind and acting like the mature one for once in his life. You looked back toward Minghao who gave you a secretive smile and a thumb up, then shoot a glance to Wonwoo e Joshua that were looking at the three of you in amusement. In that moment you thought that, maybe that day wasn't necessarly an unlucky day. Seungkwan was a douche and a pain in the ass to share a group project with, but your friends had your back and knew how to cheer you up, besides, you had Joshua to focus on. You didn't have time to waste paying attention to an idiot. 

\- Whatever you mean. I'm always ready to beat you ass at Mario Kart, Hosh - you joked sticking out your tongue and gifting your friend with one of your brightest smiles.


End file.
